A New Perspective
by Gavindorf
Summary: The Harry Potter series through the perspective of Ginny Weasley, beginning with her first year at Hogwarts. Without any Harry/Ginny pairing.
1. Chapter 1

A heated argument rang through the kitchen as Fred and George Weasley silently rose from their chairs. With their bellies full of breakfast, they nodded at one another before sneaking away upstairs. Their brother and sister took no notice of their departure.

"Please Ron, just answer my question-"

Ron pushed his cereal bowl away from himself, twisting his face in disgust. "Look at that. You've ruined my appetite," he whined.

Ginny scoffed loudly. "Don't be so dramatic! Just tell me how he became a Seeker-"

Mrs. Weasley, who had her back turned towards her children, suddenly spun around. She slammed the wet, soapy pot she was furiously scrubbing onto the dining room table. "Ginevra Weasley!" she scolded. "Stop pestering your brother about Harry!"

Their mother's sudden outburst had them leaning back in their chairs. "Mum, please," Ginny pleaded. "I want to know how he joined Quidditch as a first year. What if I wanted to join Quidditch too-"

"Absolutely not. Your first year is not going to be spent putting your life in danger," said Mrs. Weasley, ending any further discussion on the topic. With a wave of her wand, Ron's bowl of cereal and the soapy mess on the table floated into the sink. She turned back around to wash the rest of the dishes right as Ginny rolled her eyes.

Ron nodded in agreement. "You've asked me questions about him all summer. I've only known him for a year! Besides, he hasn't returned any of my letters, so who knows if we're still friends?" His voice cracked at the end of the question. Ginny suddenly felt very guilty.

"I can't imagine what those muggles must be putting that poor boy through," Mrs. Weasley muttered to no one in particular. "But this family seems to be no worse for wear." The sound of scrubbing grew louder.

Ignoring her mother, Ginny tried to console her brother. "I'm sorry Ron, I didn't mean-"

Ron suddenly stood from the table and turned towards the stairs. "Yeah, you didn't mean." He walked away in a hurry, thumping his footsteps up until he reached the top and slammed his bedroom door shut.

Ginny sat quietly, unsure of what to do. She began to anxiously run her fingers through her long, fiery orange hair when the family clock behind her suddenly chimed. Its sound seemed to beat along with her thumping heart.

After a few moments, Mrs. Weasley broke the silence.

"You're forbidden from asking your brothers questions about Harry," she said matter-of-factly.

A rising heat filled her throat, and Ginny felt herself stand up. Without realizing it she was suddenly yelling back at her mother. "That's not fair! What's the harm in asking them questions?"

Mrs. Weasley kept her voice low and cold, but her expression was more worried than angry. "Ginevra, I don't know where your obsession with Harry and Quidditch has come from, but I will not have my only daughter diving headfirst into danger her first year at Hogwarts. Now please, go to your room. I don't want to see you until supper."

Ginny's mouth hung open. Her mother's back was now turned, but she could sense the obvious tension between them. Staying in the kitchen would surely be worse than obeying orders, she thought. This battle had been fought before, and Ginny knew it was not one she could win. So she forced her anger down with a deep breath and left her mother alone.

As she sulked up the stairs towards her room, head low, Fred and George peeked their heads out over the second-floor landing.

"Yelling at Mum will get you nowhere Gin," said Fred. "Surely you know that."

Ginny, feeling too defeated to reply, simply nodded her head. She tried to walk away before George interrupted. "Wait."

"What, George?" she sighed.

The twins smiled. "As much as we love someone other than ourselves getting on Ron's nerve," said George, "we want to know something. Why do you have such an interest in Harry?"

"None of your business!" Ginny hissed.

"Alright, calm down sis. It was only a question." The twins slipped back into their room and gently shut the door.

Ginny's guilt transformed into frustration. Now she stormed up to her door, trying to make as much of a disturbance as possible. Without any hesitation, she opened it wide and slammed it as hard as she could behind her.

She stood there for a few moments, breathing heavily until a small voice suddenly chimed on her wall. "You have reached your limit of disobedience this month," it squeaked.

Hung beside Ginny's favorite poster of the Weird Sisters was the most useful present Bill Weasley had ever given her: a red and gold calendar that kept track of how much trouble she could get away with at the Burrow. She was safe from her mother and father as long as she kept her disturbances under the limit. Both annoyance at the morning's events and longing for her brother Bill now battled within her.

"Great," Ginny muttered to herself. The month had only just begun.

* * *

Not for the first time, Ginny Weasley had been suddenly awoken by her mother's shrill voice. The sound traveled up the stairway and echoed into her room. Knowing she would be unable to fall back asleep, she rubbed her eyes and threw off her covers in frustration.

When Ginny opened her bedroom door, Molly Weasley had stopped yelling. Instead, she could hear the clanking of plates in the kitchen accompanied by her brothers' complaints. She walked downstairs in her nightgown, still feeling half asleep, and stopped before she stepped around the corner to listen.

"They were starving him, Mum!" cried one of the twins.

"And you!" her mother yelled in response.

Curious as to who they were arguing about and why she hesitantly turned the corner to face her family.

Five pairs of eyes darted in Ginny's direction. As she scanned the room she suddenly realized that only four belonged to her family. The last pair were settled behind circular, black rimmed glasses that belonged to the only person in the room lacking bright orange hair.

A tiny squeal escaped her throat and Ginny found herself dashing back around the wall she came from.

"Ginny, my sister. She's been talking about you all summer," said Ron in a low voice.

The twins sniggered. "Yeah, she'll be wanting your autograph, Harry," laughed one of them.

A million thoughts a mile ran through Ginny's head as she leaned against the wall, listening to her brothers joke about her recent, and now very obvious, obsession with Harry Potter. She felt her face glow red hot with embarrassment. This was immediately followed by a grumble in her stomach, but she had no intention of eating breakfast with her family and the famous Harry Potter while tired and underdressed. She ran back up the stairs and into her room.

Feeling overwhelmed, she fell back onto her bed with a soft thud and stared up at the ceiling. A Quidditch poster featuring Gwenog Jones, Chaser for the Hollyhead Harpies, hung above her. Occasionally she would steal a quaffle and quickly pass it off to another player to score. Every time this happened, Ginny would anxiously run her fingers through the knots in her long hair, imagining herself in the poster instead. The thought of riding a broom, which she had only done a few times in the past, was enough to start her usual daydreaming.

A half hour passed before the motion made her arm ache and neck stiffen. She sighed and snatched the topmost issue of the Daily Prophet on her nightstand. A messy haired, dumbfounded Harry Potter stood on the front page. He tried to give a half-hearted wave to the reporters before stepping away. "Almost as if he walked right into my bloody kitchen," Ginny muttered to herself. Now Harry existed in more than just Ron's stories and the articles she read. He was no longer living in her imagination, but now socializing with her family like any other average boy, unaware that he was her greatest inspiration.

With him possibly living under their roof before they attended Hogwarts, Ginny felt a faint hope that her mother would smother Harry with protection instead of her. The boy seemed to have a talent for getting into trouble.

Still full of embarrassment and afraid she would be caught off guard again, Ginny took her time to dress, brush her hair, and attempt to look more accomplished than just an average soon-to-be 11-year-old girl. She needed to appear as if she was already a knowledgeable witch, even without a wand. It was one of her best shots of overcoming the intense protection and expectations of her parents. The better prepared they are, she thought, the easier it will be.

As she began to open her bedroom door, the sound of footsteps climbing the stairs echoed throughout the hallway. Ginny's breathing hitched in her throat. She cracked open her door and peered out into the hallway.

Suddenly, Harry's eyes made contact with her own. Ginny quickly shut the door with a snap.

She could hear Ron from behind the door. "Ginny," he said as the two walked upstairs. "You don't know how weird it is for her to be this shy. She never shuts up normally-"

His voice trailed away up the staircase. Ginny could feel her stomach grumble with hunger, but she decided that starving to death sounded much more pleasant than dying of embarrassment.

* * *

Around a week into Harry's stay, Ginny woke feeling more anxious than ever. She realized that as her birthday and September 1st drew closer, her first Hogwarts letter would come in the post. The letter was something of a dream for her from a very young age.

Feeling a tired excitement towards the possibility of it arriving any day now, she dressed and went downstairs to meet her parents. They had already woken much earlier and started breakfast. "Morning, Mum. Morning, Dad," she yawned.

"Morning sweetheart," her mother replied. "You're awake early. Come grab your plate and some breakfast before your brothers get ahold of it."

Ginny reached beside her father for a clean dish. He paused scrubbing the pan he was holding and turned to smile at her. "Hope you're feeling well, Gin." She nodded in reply and smiled back, hoping her father's mood was a good sign.

She waited for her parents to finish cleaning and grab their own breakfast before she ate herself. They were all sitting together when Ron and Harry walked downstairs.

Suddenly she had forgotten she was in the middle of eating a spoonful of porridge. Like other times she saw Harry in the past week, she was so startled that her hand came down too hard and accidentally knocked over her bowl. Her face glowed bright red as she picked it up from under the table and tried to ignore the small spill it made on the floor.

No-one except Ron seemed to take notice of this. He let out a small snort, but quickly tried to pass it off as a cough.

The boys sat down at the table and reached for their own plates. Mrs. Weasley offered Harry a piece of toast, and Ron began to scoop up some eggs. Ginny tried to hide her face behind her hair when Mr. Weasley addressed them all.

"Letter from school," he said, handing Ginny her own before passing on two more to the boys. Harry looked perplexed. "Dumbledore already knows you're here, Harry-" Mr. Weasley added. "Doesn't miss a trick, that man."

Fred and George arrived at the breakfast table, yawning and rubbing their eyes. They sat before their father waved their own letters in front of them. "You two've got them too."

Ginny sat for a moment while everyone else opened their letters. She stared at her own, feeling like the world slowed down around her. With a deep breath, she split the seal and unfolded its contents.

 _Dear Ms. Weasley,_

 _We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment._

 _Term begins on 1 September. We await your owl by no later than 31 July._

_Yours sincerely,_

**_Minerva McGonagall_**  
 _Deputy Headmistress_

Ginny slowly read the first line of her acceptance letter over and over. A gradual excitement rose in her chest every time she did so. Once she was sure that the letter was for her and not her brothers, as noted by the 'Ms.', and that this wasn't a prank, she finally turned to the next page.

She read through the list of all the things she needed for her first year and gave a deep sigh. Being the youngest, she would end up with most of these things being secondhand from her brothers. There was no way of getting around it.

Before she could finish reading, Fred's voice broke the silence. "You've been told to get all Lockhart's books, too!" he said to Harry. "The new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher must be a fan - bet it's a witch."

"That lot won't come cheap. Lockhart's books are really expensive," George added. Ginny looked at her own list and cringed. She needed a set of Lockhart's books as well.

She looked at her mother who stiffened up. The word 'expensive' wasn't something the Weasley family liked to hear. Trying not to look worried, Mrs. Weasley quickly smiled. "Well, we'll manage. I expect we'll be able to pick up a lot of Ginny's things secondhand."

As expected, Ginny thought to herself.

This drew Harry's attention towards her. "Oh, are you starting at Hogwarts this year?" he asked.

The sudden acknowledgment caught her off guard. She nodded absentmindedly and accidentally laid her elbow in the butter dish.

Before she realized what she had done, everyone in the room turned to see Percy walk in. He looked slightly more crisp and clean than normal, which must have been hard for someone who prided themselves on already being so, she thought. It was hard not to take notice of the shiny prefect badge pinned to his vest with the way he held his chest outward, looking full of himself. "Morning, all," he said. "Lovely day."

Rolling her eyes and looking back at her letter, Ginny realized her elbow felt wet. She tried not to draw attention from her family as she hurriedly cleaned off the butter. To her relief, everyone was distracted by the tattered gray owl that crashed into the kitchen. Errol, the family owl, had delivered a letter from Hermione that kept the conversation busy throughout breakfast.

Soon enough, Harry and her brothers left breakfast to play Quidditch up the hill, leaving Ginny at the table to finish reading her letter. What seemed like a never-ending list of expensive supplies left her feeling anxious enough. Once her eyes skimmed the bottom of the page, though, she was struck with an unhappiness she wasn't expecting.

 _PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST-YEARS ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICK._

"What?" Ginny exclaimed, drawing the attention of her parents who were still at the table. "I can't even practice flying my first year?"

Mrs. Weasley began to leave the table. "We aren't having this conversation again, Ginny. I won't stand for it."

Ginny opened her mouth to retort, but Mr. Weasley interrupted. "There's a class the teaches you how to fly your first year. I know it's not the freedom you might've expected, but they let you use a school broom since you won't have one of your own." He lowered his voice after Mrs. Weasley left the room. "Your mother and I want you to be safe. I'm sorry if it feels unfair, but I promise you will have a good first year."

Patting Ginny's shoulder, he also stood and left the room. "Freedom," Ginny huffed to herself. As far as she was concerned, she could never be truly free being the only daughter of the Weasley family.

Hogwarts, the one place she expected to finally be rid of her parent's protections, had even worse restrictions than she knew. The closest she could get to independence was through flying, something she had never been allowed to do in her household. Every minute she spent in the air was a minute being more than just the Weasley daughter. At least at home she could sneak out and borrow her brothers' brooms whenever she wanted.

Maybe, she thought, Hogwarts won't be so great after all.


	2. Chapter 2

A few sunny days later, the children of the Weasley family were woken early as they had planned to visit Diagon Alley that afternoon. They dressed, ate breakfast, and all watched as Harry stumbled through his first experience with Floo powder.

Fred had gone through their fireplace first, to give Harry an example. George immediately followed. Ginny stood there watching, feeling gradually anxious to start the afternoon. Harry, taking his time to listen to Ron and her mother's advice, seemed nervous as well. Although the Weasley's were used to traveling by fireplace, she had a haunting feeling it would not end up well for him.

Harry scattered the Floo powder into the fireplace, taken aback by the sudden flames. Ginny winced as he stepped inside and choked out a weak "D-Dia-gon Alley!" disappearing in a haze of green fire.

Mr. and Mrs. Weasley consoled each other. "I'm sure he'll be alright," said Mr. Weasley.

Ron didn't seem as hopeful. "I'll make sure he got there. Don't wait up!" He grabbed his own pinch of powder and stepped in to leave.

"Be sure to wait for us, Ron! Don't run off with your brothers-" Mrs. Weasley called out, but he was gone before she could finish.

Ginny stepped forward. Her mother grabbed Ginny's face for a kiss on the cheek. "See you in a bit darling." She didn't fight the affection. "Thanks, mum."

For a second, she felt an excitement in her stomach. Her first trip to Diagon Alley for herself and not just her brothers was something she had been secretly celebrating for weeks. This time she would receive her own wand and books, and be able to enjoy her time walking down the alley without the occasional jealous thought. With this on her mind, she threw in the Floo powder and stepped forward, preparing for the dizzying trip she was about to take.

"Diagon Alley!"

Her vision filled with bright green. The world twisted and churned loudly around her while she tried to focus on the fireplace exits that flashed one by one. Suddenly, a group of ginger-colored heads appeared-

And gravity returned as she stepped forward into the Leaky Cauldron.

Like every trip she took to the Leaky Cauldron, she was immediately overwhelmed with the smell of ash mixed with the musty scent of old books and frequent travelers. Witches and wizards were sat at the tables, drinking in conversation, while others went in and out towards Diagon Alley. As two witches tried to cut by her, Ginny felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Didn't see Harry in there, did you?" asked Ron from behind, trying to get her attention. "No, should I have?" she replied.

"Apparently he never came out-"

With another loud burst of green flame, Mr. Weasley stepped out of the fireplace. "Your mother will be right behind me. Did everyone get here alright?"

Ron, in a worried tone, answered first. "Harry never came out. We're not sure where he's gone."

Ginny noticed the color leave her father's face. "Well," he paused. "He couldn't have gotten far. We'll go looking when your mother gets here."

Soon after, the Weasley family headed into Diagon Alley. A frantic Mrs. Weasley grabbed Ginny by the hand and locked her grip, to Ginny's displeasure. "We must find him, Arthur! You take the boys towards Gringotts and Ginny and I will look in the fireplaces down the alley. I can't believe we lost..."

Her mother's voice trailed off into background noise as Ginny was dragged away from her family.

* * *

Not long after, the Weasley's gathered on the steps of Gringotts, finding Harry in the company of a very large, bearded man. Mrs. Weasley busily dusted the soot off of Harry's clothes. "Oh, Harry-" she gasped, "-oh, my dear-you could have been anywhere-"

Harry stood uncomfortably as Mr. and Mrs. Weasley brushed his coat. The large man patted Harry on the shoulder, creating a small cloud of soot above their heads. Saying goodbye, he tightly shook Mrs. Weasley's hand before leaving. In a booming voice, he said, "Well, gotta be off. See yer at Hogwarts!" and waved to Harry, Ron, and Hermione.

Ginny felt dumbstruck. Whoever that was, she thought, he must have been someone important at school. She turned to Fred while the others spoke. "Who was that?"

Fred and George sniggered. "That was Hagrid. He's the groundskeeper at Hogwarts," said Fred. "You'll see him during the term, most likely. Kind of hard to miss him." Ginny looked back into the crowd and could still see Hagrid walking away through a sea of heads and pointy hats.

Suddenly her group began walking into Gringotts, so she trailed behind her mother as they separated from Hermione and her muggle parents, who appeared as lost as she felt.

Within Gringotts, Ginny felt both enchanted and uneasy by her surroundings. The floor felt hard and sleek under her worn out soles, clean enough to reflect the color of her red hair off the tile. Surrounding them were long-nosed, bumpy faced goblins, too busy to watch them pass by. Although familiar to her from past visits, she always had a difficult time looking away.

They walked up to a large, golden elevator and stepped inside its cage. She gently held her breath when the doors closed. As expected, the floor beneath her quickly dropped as they headed down, down, down into the mines below.

"Urg," she gurgled as they all stepped out of the elevator and into a large minecart waiting for them. The short goblin accompanying her family stepped behind the light fixture at the head of the minecart, pulled a few levers, and lead them down the track towards their bank vault.

They stopped first at the small door of the Weasley's vault. To be respectful of her mother and father, she stayed back in the minecart and tried to strike up a conversation with Ron. They all knew there wasn't much money to take, so the Weasley children did their best to stay distracted so they could save their parents from being more embarrassed than necessary.

Once Mrs. Weasley finished grabbing all of their savings, they gathered in the cart again to head even lower into the Gringott's cave. Ginny's hair whipped gently behind her as they sped on past damp stone walls and small, gushing waterfalls. A few minutes passed before they slowed in front of a very large, more heavily secured bank vault. Harry stepped out and hastily gathered some money for the school year. Without saying a word he closed the vault door, stepped into the minecart, and they all headed back up out of the cave.

When the Weasley family was standing in open air once again, Ginny felt her wrist being tugged by Mrs. Weasley back towards the shops. "We'll all meet at Flourish and Blotts in an hour to buy your schoolbooks," she called back to her family. "And not one step down Knockturn Alley!" to the twins, sniggering as they crept away.

Ginny wrestled her hand from her mother's grasp. Side-by-side, they wove between gaps in the crowd, heading towards the secondhand robe shop. There, she took all the time she could to try on the old, dusty robes that her family could barely afford. Too long or short, frayed or tattered, she settled on one with the least amount of holes. Ginny quickly folded it into her bag and led the way out, Mrs. Weasley close behind.

They spent a half hour shopping, enough time for a line of witches to form inside of Flourish and Blotts. Mrs. Weasley dragged Ginny towards the front, grabbing a few books and a new cauldron along the way. They stood close as they could to an empty table and chair in the middle of the shop, surrounded by books in tall stacks, all with the same last name gilded in silver on the binding. Looking familiar to her, she pulled the school book list from her pocket. A significant number of schoolbooks were written by the same wizard: GILDEROY LOCKHART.

"What are we here for mum?" asked Ginny, inching closer to her mother and away from other witches looking too similar in age to Mrs. Weasley.

"To get some books signed, dear." She pulled a few from one of the stacks, enough to get one copy of each title. "We'll buy these in a bit, yes?"

Ginny and her mother continued to stand for what seemed to Ginny like hours, with only floating books and pens to keep her attention. Soon enough, the crowd of witches suddenly began to gather around the lone desk in the middle of the shop; only now, sitting at this desk was an older man with golden locks of hair. Mrs. Weasley audibly gasped and began to crowd towards the middle as well. A raggedy bookshop keeper was gradually being pushed into the walls as he made for the door. "Please, please ladies…single file line...one at a time, ladies…"

The rest of the Weasley family squeezed through the crowd behind her, Mr. Weasley leading the group. "Dad," she called out, "do we really need to be here?"

Her brothers mumbled to each other, squeezing their way next to Ginny. "These women are too close for comfort-" said Fred before being bumped by a short witch with broad shoulders.

Mr. Weasley laughed, "It will only be for a bit. Your mother wants to get these books signed while Lockhart is in town." Ginny glanced back at the golden-headed man, hating him even more than before.

Harry, Hermione, and Ron suddenly came up from the front of the store. "Oh, there you are, good," said Mrs. Weasley exhaustedly, fixing herself up. "We'll be able to see him in a minute…"

Ginny waited, distracted by the books above her head sorting themselves by number, before chaos seemed to ensue. Ron stepped back and bumped into her. "Ron, please-"

A booming, excited voice cut her off. "It can't be Harry Potter?"

Lockhart lunged forward into the crowd and pulled Harry from beside her. Ginny moved aside and watched as the bright-smiled man forcibly shook Harry's hand, muttering under his breath. A photographer quickly snapped photos of the two, purple smoke falling in the Weasley's faces.

After a long, winded, and dramatic speech by the author, half of which drowned out by the large bodies beside her, Ginny's ears perked up to catch the end. "….ladies and gentlemen, I have the great pleasure and pride in announcing that this September, I will be taking up the post of Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry!"

Within the cheering and applause around her, Ginny could hear the twins gag. Mrs. Weasley and Hermione clapped excitedly.

Harry, with an armful of heavy books, made a beeline towards her and the Weasleys. He quickly dropped them all into the cauldron beside her. "You have these, I'll buy my own-"

A snide voice cut him off. "Bet you loved that, didn't you, Potter?"

Turning around, Ginny found Draco Malfoy behind her, dressed in clean-cut robes and standing on the staircase beside them. She watched as Harry stood upright, facing Draco. Her hair stood on end. "Famous Harry Potter," Malfoy snarled. "Can't even go into a bookshop without making the front page."

Warmth rose in Ginny's face. Climbing her throat, she felt the sudden urge to defend Harry. "Leave him alone, he didn't want all that!"

Malfoy laughed, pointing a short finger Ginny. "Potter, you've got yourself a girlfriend!"

Embarrassed by her outburst, Ginny slunk away from Harry and Malfoy both. Harry? Girlfriend? She shuddered at the thought.

Ron and Hermione snuck in beside her. With a few more snide remarks from Malfoy, her brother suddenly lunged across the gap between them. Harry and Hermione held him by the scruff of his jacket.

Mr. Weasley broke in from the side. "Ron! What are you doing? It's too crowded in here, let's go outside."

A deep voice came from behind Draco, belonging to a man she couldn't see. Mr. Weasley tensed up and pushed Ginny further back into the crowd, leaving her cauldron and books at the front of the scuffle. The man, with long blonde hair, reached into her cauldron and pulled out a small, tattered book.

Ginny was left to watch everything unfold. As soon as the argument between the man and her father seemed to begin, it quickly ended when Mr. Weasley jumped towards the man, beating him against a bookshelf.

Mrs. Weasley screeched at her husband. "No, Arthur, no!"; Her brothers cheered, and the crowd stepped back, some witches gasping. The ragged wizard was back, yelling for the two to stop as they tussled into more stacks of books, sending some flying away.

The large, bearded man Ginny met earlier suddenly appeared in the shop. He immediately broke into the fight. "Break it up there, gents, break it up-"

Hagrid picked both men up, one hand each, and tore apart the two. Spellbooks stopped falling, witches quieted, and her father stood with a limp and a bloody lip.

The blonde man stood next to Draco, looking battered as well. He glared at Ginny. "Here girl-take your book-it's the best your father can give you-" he said, and threw her old, tattered book back into Ginny's cauldron. She pushed between the twins and snatched her cauldron by the handle, holding it against her chest. Draco, and what looked now like his father, pushed past the crowd gathered at the front of Flourish and Blotts, and disappeared down the street.

The Weasleys, after a short and angry talk about what had occurred, walked back towards the Leaky Cauldron. Hermione said her goodbyes to the boys, gave a small hug to Ginny and left alongside her parents back to the muggle world.

Mrs. Weasley led the family and Harry up to the fireplace they came from at the start of their eventful day. With bags in hand, she threw down her Floo powder and went up in flames, back home. The twins, Percy, Ron, and Harry followed, leaving Ginny and her father behind. Before stepping into the coals, she hesitantly asked him, "Do you regret it? Standing up to Mr. Malfoy?"

Arthur laughed, "No, of course not. Why do you ask?"

Ginny felt sheepish. "Mum was really angry."

Her father handed her the Floo powder, letting her take a small pinch of the dust. "Always stand up for your family and friends, Gin," he said. "Even if your mother and that bookkeeper may not have agreed!"

Calling out the name of her home, the Leaky Cauldron zoomed past her vision, and the hearty sound of her father's laughter faded into the rush of the green flames.


End file.
